To determinate or indeterminate? Well here are the basic differences. Often called bush varieties, determinate tomatoes will grow to an average size of 4 feet most often. Fruit sets on the terminal or top bud and they stop growing. Over roughly the next 2 weeks all fruit will ripen for harvest and the plant will die. These varieties should not be pruned or suckered as you will severely reduce yields. Occasionally they will need limited caging and are normally varieties that will grow well in containers.

Indeterminate tomatoes will continue to grow all season until frost or cold kills them. Average vine length is about 6 feet but they can reach up to 10 feet in length. They will continuously set new fruit from maturity until death. These plants often need staking or caging and pruning can help increase yields over the season. I generally sucker these plants heavily down to 1-3 vines but the advisability of this can change from garden to garden. Because of their size indeterminate tomatoes aren’t the best selection for container gardening although with a big enough container (think half barrel) good results can be had.

Choose multiple, good varieties. If you have the space I recommend planting 3-4 varieties and more if you have the space. Some varieties will thrive in your garden while others may suffer. Disease resistance is another consideration with many modern hybrids offering disease resistances that help the average gardener succeed. Keep a log to help you remember what plants did well and which did not and in a few years you will notice higher rates of success.

Tomatoes are a warm weather crop. Cold soil will stunt your tomato plants reducing yield and possibly even killing them. Ideally nighttime temperatures should be around 13°C but likely will survive anything short of a frost. Remember surviving is not thriving. Harden plants off before planting in the garden. This means gradually getting your plants accustomed to direct sunlight, wind, and cool temperatures and often requires you to bring them inside for the night in the early season.

Once your plants are ready for transplant find a spot with rich soil and direct full sun. A well maintained garden amended with well rotted manure and compost should provide the tomato plant with most if not all of its needs. Fertilizing a few times a year with a high calcium formula can really help things along but don’t over do it.

Plant your tomatoes deep. Don’t be afraid to bury a good portion of the stem. Tomatoes readily develop more roots from buried stems. This will help produce a more robust drought tolerant plant over the course of the season.

Garlic, Basil and Nasturtiums make good companion plants.

Its best to water Tomatoes little and often to encourage consistent growth. This will also help to reduce the incidence of split fruit. Ideally you water the ground and keep plants dry whenever possible. This will also help prevent the spread of disease.

In my opinion staking, caging, or growing tomatoes on the ground is a matter of preference. How much space do you have? How much work are you willing to do? Are you concerned with absolutely maximizing yield or do you just want a garden? Personally I like to stake plants growing a single stem or possibly 2 up a stake. This requires that you sucker your plant. See the How to section of this website to learn how.

Keeping your plants pruned and cleaned of bottom leaves increases airflow and can reduce the incidence of disease.

Harvesting some of the more interesting varieties can be a challenge. Most people struggle immensely with green tomatoes and other off coloured varieties. The best advice I can give is unfortunately trial and error. With such a wide variety of options available there is no standard rule that I know of.

This year I was lucky enough to tour the Stokes seed trial gardens and get my hands on some of these decidedly delicious, yellow/orange cherry tomatoes. As someone who normally prefers red tomatoes I sampled this tiny treat while passing by a rather vigorous, large tomato plant. It was love at first taste. I was taken aback by the extremely sweet and flavorful pop in my mouth. I simply could not resist them and found any variety of excuse to pass by the row of these delectable nightshade fruits again and again! I swore that they would grace my garden from now until forever and that I would erect a fence to keep my children away (I’ve tried this before but with poor results at best!).

Ok Ok I may be taking this to far but in all seriousness I’m entirely impressed. These large indeterminate tomato plants are disease resistant and bear fruit over a long season. They are incredibly sweet yet still bear a pleasant tomato flavor. They are a nice size not exceeding an inch across and are packaged in a wonderfully thin skin. Despite this thin skin they are reportedly crack resistant and through a thorough search and destroy researched based approach that claim seemed to hold true, further research pending. On top of this you are likely going to get a yield you can count by hundreds!

A must have for any cherry tomato loving gardeners or gardeners with young children in the family. When you see these in the garden center don’t hesitate to pick one up, there is very little chance of disappointment!

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“I grow as many of our vegetables as I can, because my grandad was a gardener, and it’s in our blood.”